Bumper Pool credits Arkansas strength program with team mindset

Arkansas Football underwent a dramatic transformation during linebacker Bumper Pool’s time in Fayetteville. The super-senior oversaw the Hogs go from 2-10 his freshman year to 9-4 in 2021. And they only plan to improve from there.

During SEC Media Days last week, Pool pointed to one particular area of the Arkansas porgram — and credited one coach in specific — for shaping the mindsets that helped turn the program around. Pool noted when speaking with media that the Razorback strength coach, Jamil Walker, “is the bets strength coach in the nation.”

He then went on to explain why Walker’s presence has built resilience and leadership out of himself and other the players on the team.

“The workouts he puts us through are extremely hard and they’re extremely demanding. Whenever you go through these workouts — you can see in people’s eyes, you know, if they can handle it or not. You’re starting to see a lot of these especially young guys attacking these workouts. Feeling confident about it whenever we’re finished. Knowing they have more in them. And whenever they get to that point where they’re breaking — knowing that…hey, this is what it’s like in a game. This is how tired you can be, and you’ve got to continue to push through that.”

Arkansas’ change in program culture started on the practice field, according to their defensive capatin. Pool believes the way Walker made them work during summer camp is why they were able to withstand fatigue and adversity throughout the season, at the end of games, when the going got tough.  

Pool on why he returned for extra season

Bumper Pool has four successful years of college ball under his belt. During which he captained a defense that helped completely right the ship for the Arkansas program. So why come back? What more is there to accomplish?

Plenty, per Pool. He wants to take the Hogs to an even higher level.

“It’s very important,” Bumper Pool said of building on success. “It’s also a very big reason why I came back. There was a lot of older guys leaving and I just felt that I wanted to come back to set a standard of how you work, what you do in the season. Because we had that success last year, I didn’t want it to be one of those things where it just happened and then it’s gone.”

Passing the torch from his generation of Razorbacks to the next — in order to maintain the standard he and his group set — is important to Pool.

“I think that, you know, you need older guys, you know, breathing life into young guys, saying, ‘This is the way you do it. This is the way you go about your business,’ to repeat that success.”